Hi, Anne! My neighborhood in RI is filled with thick beds of mulch that inhibit not only weeds, but filling in of desirable plants via reseeding, stolons or rhizomes, so the beds never fill in and the plants sit alone like islands in a sea of mulch. That’s what I’m calling a mulch bed. A very different look with far less ecological value than the tightly planted gardens you see at Chelsea.
I think it’s an American thing, driven partly by what’s easy for now and blow crews. I’ve been to many public gardens in England and have not seen mulch beds like we have, nor do I see them in magazine images of residential gardens.
I would not say Americans are generally phobic about ivy — many love it — though they do seem phobic about vines in general, believing they strangle trees. Ecologists don’t like English ivy because it’s invasive — ie, an exotic that displaces native plants in wild areas. I’m trying with difficulty to eradicate it from my yard, while encouraging native vines like Virginia creeper and virgin’s bower.
What is a mulch bed? Are they the reason some people deplore the beneficial use of mulches?
Hi, Anne! My neighborhood in RI is filled with thick beds of mulch that inhibit not only weeds, but filling in of desirable plants via reseeding, stolons or rhizomes, so the beds never fill in and the plants sit alone like islands in a sea of mulch. That’s what I’m calling a mulch bed. A very different look with far less ecological value than the tightly planted gardens you see at Chelsea.
Hi and thanks. This is an American thing and quite ordinary there??
I think it’s an American thing, driven partly by what’s easy for now and blow crews. I’ve been to many public gardens in England and have not seen mulch beds like we have, nor do I see them in magazine images of residential gardens.
And why are Americans so phobic about ivy?
I would not say Americans are generally phobic about ivy — many love it — though they do seem phobic about vines in general, believing they strangle trees. Ecologists don’t like English ivy because it’s invasive — ie, an exotic that displaces native plants in wild areas. I’m trying with difficulty to eradicate it from my yard, while encouraging native vines like Virginia creeper and virgin’s bower.
Thanks. I wonder - how do Americans think our UK woods and forests have coped with ivy for thousands of years?
Thank you for clarifying this for me.